STEPHEN WYSOCKI
I love to paint and am always painting, even when I don't have a brush in my hand, I can't get away from it, it's that simple. When I'm in my studio and run out of ideas I know it's time to get out and do some Plein Air painting; then the subjects just appear.
My mission is to show beauty in the ordinary, to allow the viewer to experience an image they see every day in a new way. I gravitate to ordinary structures or roadside junk, rusty and for sale. I see the hard edge contrasts these everyday objects convey, and try to portray that in the hues and shadows of my paintings. There is joy in this old stuff, and I try to capture this feeling. I am always looking to create an atmosphere in my work. I believe color can stand alone to convey a mood in a piece of work. I like to explore an image by playing with the many warm and cool tones. Texturing the canvases enhances the temperament and aura of my work.
This is what drives me to paint. I like to let the paint tell the story.
My process for making my artwork is usually something that visually grabs me. I see a natural shape highlighted in an odd color or a sunrise with an orange glow on a valley tree. I always like to start with a toned canvas RoseMadder, Cadmium Yellow Deep or Cadmium Orange are colors I usually choose. I recently have been experimenting with a color triad of orange, violet and green. It's amazing how that has instinctively snuck up in my work. Thin washes of oil paint to thick sculptural highlights is how I like to lay my paint on using canvas or gessoed boards. In the past few years I'm always amazed how much the last few details really make a painting sing, sometime those details are obvious and sometimes a painting can sit for six months before the final touches are revealed.
